Revelations from the men inside that tiny room with him. Room 1203 is a room youll never forget, right . Never forget that room. He said, can you get some heat . Meaning a gun. And a rare look at simpsons life in lockup. Claims from his former guard. He has a shrine to nicole. Thats the first thing he sees when he wakes up. Now his fate is in the hands of four strangers. But in the minds of many, will he be paying for one night in las vegas, or that night in los angeles . I think theres about a 52 chance that hell get parole. But if he werent o. J. Simpson, id say it would be 92. O. J. , his last play. Good evening. Im Elizabeth Vargas. And im david muir. Right here tonight, o. J. Simpson is sitting in a cell, getting into shape for what could be a walk out of prison. After nine years in prison, and the las vegas robbery has its roots in the infamous civil trial in los angeles. Tonight, 20 20, connecting all the dots. The rare interviews with the men, and what o. J. Simpson was after that night in las vegas. And what are the chances hes about to go free . Heres deborah roberts. Reporter there he is, 61yearold o. J. Simpson in a las vegas courtroom. In 2008, when a lifetime of good fortune runs dry. I thought i was confronting friends and retrieving my property. I didnt mean to steal anything from anybody and i didnt know i was doing anything illegal. So im sorry, im sorry for all of it. Reporter convicted of Armed Robbery and kidnapping after that bungled memorabilia heist in a hotel room. I was heartbroken by it. O. J. , what were you thinking . What were you thinking . All rise. Reporter walloped with a sentence that could amount to life behind bars, up to 33 years in a nevada prison. The judge saying the sentence fits this crime. Im not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else. I want that to be perfectly clear to everyone. Reporter but former simpson manager norman pardo says many see the stiff penalty less as justice, than as just desserts. I mean she made it sure, that judge did, that it was going to be a show. That this was done for a reason, mr. Simpson. This was done to show you, we can do what we want, you are guilty. Maybe not of stealing a bunch of footballs. But youre going to be guilty of murder, and we are putting yter road to that low rent las vegas caper begins nearly a dozen years earlier with one of the most controversial acquittals in history. Not guilty of murdering his exwife Nicole Brown Simpson and ron goldman in june of 1994. The white bronco, leading to the trial of the century and a cavalcade of the suddenly famous. Judge ito, marcia clark, christopher darden, kato kaelin. Cochran, kardashian, shapiro, and f. Lee bailey, the dream team. And that phrase that helped set him free. If it doesnt fit, you must acquit. We find the defendant not guilty. Reporter that not guilty verdict keeps him out of prison, but simpson soon finds himself snubbed by his old upper crust golfing buddies and scorned by many adoring fans who embraced him before the killings. We actually believed that if hes found not guilty, we all go back to our lives and we just move on. He thought hed walk right back into it. I think the vast majority of the people in brentwood thought he was guilty, and it became very uncomfortable for him to be here. Reporter rejected by much of white america, simpson turns to the black community, showing up at church services. Like this appearance at scripture cathedral in washington, d. C. , a year after the trial. As my mother told me the truth will set you free, and it did. Reporter simpson grants his first posttrial interview to ed gordon on b. E. T. Why dont you sell the brentwood estate, go away for a little while. Go where . Where, do they want me to go to africa . Is that what some of those people would want . Go where . I live in l. A. This was right after the trial . Yes, this was at his 50th birthday party. Reporter walter alexander, a minister now, was in real estate when he met simpson soon after the acquittal, inviting him to join his regular golf game. I was the person who introduced him to the black golfing community. Hollywood had pretty much turned their back on him and they didnt want him at the country club anymore. Reporter c. J. Stewart says he began golfing with simpson in 2004. Did you have any view about his guilt or innocence . Im being totally honest with you. I didnt care. I really wasnt concerned. Reporter but simpson also begins to attracting the kind of friends you dont meet on the golf course. A different o. J. Came out of that trial. The first o. J. Was a Heisman Trophy winner, the runner, the actor. And then after the trial, became the more godfather figure, and there was more of the bad guys coming up to him because they want to hang with the ultimate bad guy. Reporter the victims families sue. And the civil trial, a year after the criminal case, goes very differently. No cameras in court and simpson is forced to testify. And that changed everything. Did you ever physically hurt her . Yes. Did you ever bruise her . Yes. Reporter once o. J. Simpson had to testify himself, and his story completely fell apart, it was a totally different game. A very brief interruption, everybody. In case you havent heard the news until now, there has been a verdict in the o. J. Simpson civil trial in california. Reporter this time the jury finds simpson liable, awarding a wrongful death judgment of a whopping 33. 5 million. Todays 2 1 2 years, a little over 2 1 2 years and we finally have justice for ron and nicole. Reporter Elizabeth Vargas spoke with fred goldman. Is it justice . Not the justice i would like. But its a way of getting some justice. Reporter although simpson has always denied any involvement in the murders. His career, all those lucrative gigs. Tv pitchman. Hertz, the superstar in car rental. Reporter movie roles. That had all cratered after the first trial. And now the goldmans begin squeezing the juice. In santa monica today the judge in the o. J. Simpson trial he will order mr. Simpson to turn over more than 100 of his belongings to the court including his Heisman Trophy, and his golf clubs. Reporter the sheriff sends moving trucks to simpsons mansion, but the former running back and his supporters are ahead of them. The Sheriffs Department ese two giant moving trucks. So we knew the day before that they were coming to seize these various items. There was quite a few people, his family and friends, moving stuff out and taking it up to different homes. O. J. Was out playing golf. Deniability. I left. I had his collectibles, personal items, tiffany lamps, a carpet. Reporter mike gilbert also took things for himself, under an arrangement he says he had with simpson to accept memorabilia in lieu of payment. Although some things, he says, no one had a right to take. It bothered me when they started taking things that i didnt think was just. O. J. , my congratulations of all of us for your impeccable character. Thank you, mr. Cosell. Thank you, mrs. Simpson. Thank you. How do you take away his heisman . Reporter that trophy is sold at auction for a quarter million dollars. But other memorabilia will make its way to hotel room in las vegas, where the cops and some might say karma are about to catch up with o. J. Simpson. People have always said to us, you know, karma will get him in the end. Our effort of constantly going after him maybe pushed him, even only this much into committing Armed Robbery. Aint that wonderful . I will nevi will neverair again. Never wash my hair again now, i fuel it new pantene. 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I should take a closer look at geico. dog panting geico has a 97 Customer Satisfaction rating and fast and friendly claims service. Speaking of service . Oooo, just out. It was in. Out. In out. In what about now . That was our only shuttlecock. Take a closer look at geico. Great savings. And a whole lot more. 20 20 continues with o. J. his last play. Reporter neon signs, slots, show girls, and celine. Welcome to sin city. Its september 13th, 2007, and o. J. Simpson, now a sullied celebrity, is back on the las vegas strip. Not headed to the clubs, but rather the chapel. Hes the best man at his friend tom scottos wedding. He was more excited for me to get married than i was. My wedding was a fourday event. We had parties every night. Reporter but thats not the only reason simpsons excited. Hes gets a tip that some of his lost and valuable personal memorabilia will also be in las vegas. I got a call, it was al beardsley. Hes a 66, 300pound, o. J. Fanatic. Saying, i have all the stuff from o. J. s trophy room. He didnt pay his bills, his agent stole them. Reporter he tries to authenticate the items. As simpson will later learn, riccio likes to covertly record conversations. Between you and i, this is stuff o. J. Personally loves. Called o. J. , o. J. Said, look tom, this is not memorabilia. These are personal artifacts that were stolen from me. Reporter simpsons staying here at the palms resort and poolside, he huddles up with riccio and some other buddies and strategizes a major play to score back some of his stuff. He says to me, i need someone that i could trust to go up there or go and see what it is. Reporter meet charlie ehrlich, a Miami Strip Club promoter and part of simpsons new pack of friends. Ehrlich says simpson asks him to pose as a buyer. I said, o. J. , listen. For you, im going to do this. Reporter he leaves and later upstairs in Simpsons Hotel room, the planning continues. And so does riccios recording. Listen as the juice gets in game mode. Can you lower the tv a little bit . Its 3 30 already. So were talking about 6 00. Reporter by now, someone else has joined this company of conspirators, simpsons old golfing buddy, walter alexander. What was the plan . What did o. J. Say he wanted to do . He approached me about it he was like, hey, man will you watch my back . So i said yes. And then after i said yes, he leaned in a little closer and he said, by the way, can you get some heat . Reporter meaning a gun. Meaning a gun. And when he said that i hesitated. Reporter alexander may have hesitated, but someone else soon steps up. He runs a Security Company and has a conceal carry permit. His name . Michael mcclinton, a simpson pal from the Vegas Night Club scene. He asked me, would you go with me to be my security . Sure, ill go with you. Little did i know that it was going to turn into what it did. After he did that i look at o. J. And i say, so, o. J. You know, what if they call the police . And he looked at me and he used a fourletter word that starts with f and ends with k, the police. What they going to do, take me to jail for taking my own stuff . Reporter the stage is set, and simpsons motley crew is now four deep. Riccio, the gobetween, heads north to the Palace Station hotel to link with the memorabilia dealers. Watch, as they bring in the haul. We took the memorabilia down to the room, set it all up for this supposed buyer that was coming in. Reporter what you will see next is like a reallife version of oceans eleven, captured by the constellation of cameras dotting the hotel ceiling. A halfhour later, simpson and the others hit the road. Hes now recruited two other guys, including c. J. Stewart. He gets in the car and he says what . Man, i got 15 minutes to get there. You dont even have to get out the vehicle, just please dont leave me there. And i look around, i got two other guys in, in the vehicle with him. Reporter that would be ehrlich and another man. The pretend buyers head in first. Youre watching ehrlich on the casino floor, making a phone call to find out the room number. Two seconds later, i look down the hallway, i see o. J. , this guy clarence stewart, these two black guys, who looked like they were out of miami vice. Slicked back hair, versace glasses, suits. I go, who the [ bleep ] are these guys . Excuse my french. Im like, oh, boy. This is this is a typical o. J. Move. Reporter he takes me back to that lobby at the Palace Station hotel, which is currently undergoing significant renovation. So you come in here, you gather with all of these guys in whos whos sort of in charge of the plan . Mr. Simpson is in charge. Reporter what did he say . Well, he said that we got to wait for some guys to come from down this way. Reporter then for the first time everyone comes together. No one knew anybody. It was like going to the gunfight at the o. K. Corral. Reporter or in room 1203. Remember, mcclinton and alexander are each armed with a pistol. When we got to the door, mr. Simpson asked me to show my gun and look menacing. We all barged into the room. The guys in the room were shocked to see mr. Simpson. This guy had a face on that was just, a rage. I seen this guy getting ready to go up under the mattress. First thing went to my mind, it was a firearm. So pinned him back against the wall and said, no, dont do that. Whats going on here . Next thing, simpson, you could hear his voice coming in. Think you can steal my [ bleep ] and sell it . Reporter this is actual audio of simpson inside that room. Secretly recorded by riccio, it would be critical later in the courtroom. It was stated that i pointed the gun and i can tell you now, being honest as possible, i never pointed that gun at anybody. I did take my gun out for one, like, a split second and when i realized that the room was safe i just put it back in. Reporter did you think at that moment that that was a mistake . The minute i pulled the gun out, im like, man, this is a robbery. You know, this is going to be on national news. You are going to jail for this. Reporter nine hulking men, crammed in a small room, that barely holds a bed and a bureau. So o. J. Says, pack up the stuff. Pack up all the stuff and lets get out of here. Reporter they grab everything in sight, autographed footballs, o. J. s plaques, joe montana lithographs, baseballs signed by pete rose. And even neckties, and stuff them in pillowcases from the bed. He looked like santa claus. Walking out of the room. Reporter only thing left behind, this box and a phone book. Nothing was safe from pilfering. I actually went and snatched the cord of the phone out of the wall and i took bruces cell phone. Reporter why did you take his cell phone . Because i didnt want him to call the police. Reporter so you leave the room. Yes. Reporter what are you thinking at that point . 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Whats your body of proof . Be a powerful force. Nature valley reporter its a thursday night in las vegas, football legend o. J. The juice simpson is out celebrating over sushi and sake at the little buddha restaurant. He just made what could be his biggest score since his playing days, taking back memorabilia he believes is his. We all met at the palms and had sushi and o. J. Was there laughing and he just thought it was the funniest thing. Reporter listen to this audio of simpson that night, joking about the robbery. It was a strong arm robbery. They came in with guns. Reporter it seems there is no unrecorded moment in this caper. Yet another accomplice, michael mcclinton, secretly taping simpson because he